The word "regal" comes from the Latin "rex, regis," which means king. Thus, it means king-like. "Regal" can mean either royal or magnificent, depending on the context. Here, the options only provide one acceptable option, namely "royal." The word "regal" is related to other words like "regicide" (the killing of a king) and "regalia" (the emblems used by a monarch).

The word "meticulous" comes from Latin roots that mean fearful. In English, however, this idea of fearfulness has been taken over by the general meaning, attentive to details. (It is as if someone were fearful of missing an important detail.) Now, it could be that such a person is obsessive; however, it is better to say that a meticulous person is diligent. Someone who is careful about details may just be very devoted to making sure that things are done right. Sometimes, this is a very desirable trait. For instance, a meticulous engineer might very carefully design the outer hull of a spaceship.  We would want such a person to be diligent with regard to details and would not want to insult him for being "obsessive." (Of course, diligence can become obsessive.  Still, though, "meticulous" merely denotes being diligent and careful with details, not obsessiveness.) 

When someone is "contemplative," he or she is thoughtful. Often, this is applied to religious people who are engrossed in thoughtful prayer, but it can really describe any kind of thoughtful person. Thus, Socrates was quite contemplative, for a story speaks of how he could stand all night lost in thought. Such a person is best described as "reflective." Though a contemplative person may be likely to be "witty," "genius," or even "forgetful" (at least of day-to-day things), these meanings are not quite right. Above all else, a contemplative person is continuously thoughtful and, hence, "reflective."

The word "resolute" comes from similar roots as "resolve" and "resolution." These words mean in general to come to a determined decision. The particular adjective "resolute" describes someone who has decided in a fixed and unchanging manner. Thus, the best answer is "steadfast," which describes someone in a similar manner.

When someone is "precise," he or she is exact about details. Now, this can be used to mean that the person is not vague (in speech, writing, etc). It can also mean that the person is very exacting about details when working. Such a person is well described as being "methodical." This word describes someone who works on something by using a fixed method. This allows him or her to address all needed details for the given matter (instead of randomly working on it and, thus, missing important details).

You might think that the adjective "pretentious" describes someone who is arrogant; however, this is not exactly correct. A person is pretentious when he or she acts like he or she is better than he or she is in reality. Thus, the simple word "showy" is the best option among those proposed here.

We tend to think of "partial" as being contrasted to "whole." In a way, this does apply to the meaning needed for this question but not entirely. Someone can be called "partial" when he or she favors one thing over another. Thus, you could say, "I am partial for the thought of Roger Kilwardby," meaning that I favor his way of thinking about things. Sometimes, we speak of "showing partiality"—this means showing a kind of favoritism. Now, these cases are like taking a "part" (e.g. Roger Kilwardby) at the expense of all other people or things. This could be called having a prejudice (at least in a mild form). Thus, this is the correct answer.

There are two classes of wrong answers for this question. One set is trying to get you to misread "insolent" to be "insolvent." When you are "insolvent", you are bankrupt, but this is totally wrong, for the word is insolent! Now, the word "insolent" means rude. You might know an expression like "insolent brat" or "insolent fool." Thus, you would know at least that insolence is a bad character trait, but do not go from this general feeling to the conclusion that options like "manipulative" or "conniving" are correct. (These are the second set of trap answers.) Instead, "uncivil" is the best, for it is closest in meaning to "rude."

The word "meticulous" describes someone who is very careful about details. The best option among those provided is "fastidious," which means nearly the same thing. For a pairing like this, it is just necessary to know the vocabulary words in order to answer the question correctly.

As you well know, the word "devoted" means loyal, but the options for answers given here might make you worry about this initial thought. You might think that the word has religious overtones, for related words like "devotional" and "devotions" are sometimes related to religious matters, but this is not the case for any of the main meanings of "devoted" (though it certainly is related historically to those other meanings). Now, the word "staunch" actually does mean "loyal." Just think about a somewhat familiar way of speaking: "He was a staunch defender of the new legislation." This means that he was a loyal or devoted defender of the legislation. Thus, "staunch" is the synonym needed for this question.